Hi... . Sorry for the length, but if you are considering an Electrolux purchase, I hope you take the time to read this. Let me start by saying I don't usually write detailed posts/reviews. I generally leave a comment if I really LOVE a product, but I have to be pushed beyond reason to leave a negative comment. Having said, that, we built a new home in 2010, and I pestered my husband to spend the extra cash to get the entire suite of Electrolux appliances. When we built our first home, about 12 years ago, we purchased the Frigidaire Gallery series. He wanted to stick with that brand, as they were rock solid appliances, and we had no issues with them at all. How I wish I had listened to him. I will start with the double wall oven. I was using the top oven only from September of 2010 to Thanksgiving (no particular reason, I just didn't cook any big dinners) and I thought it was awfully noisy. There was a loud convection sound that never went away, even when the oven reached the set temperature. I just figured...OK its loud, but I'll have to live with it. I wasn't about to rip out a newly installed oven because it was noisy. Plus I absolutely LOVED those easy glide racks! I did expect an adjustment period, so when I burned the first few things, I sort of wrote it off as an oops...maybe this oven just cooks faster than my old one. After burning EVERY dish I made, I stuck 3 different thermometers in there and found it was 30-50 degrees above the set temp. And still extremely loud. So when I finally got around to using the lower oven, I found that after reaching proper temperature, the sound went off. And the thermometer that I put in the lower oven was pretty close to the set temperature. Apparently, the top oven has been stuck in the convection mode since day one...which explains why it is so loud. By this time, all of the racks had lost their nice smooth coat (I assume from cooking constantly in convection) and that lovely smooth glide feature (that partially sold me on the oven) were shot...completely shot. The bearings don't work and I actually have to tug, side to side, to get the racks out. I asked for new racks in addition to whatever repairs were necessary. The bottom oven racks were still OK. The cook top: We have the 36" hybrid cook top, and after a few months, it would suddenly stop working, flashing an F error code. If I let is sit for anywhere from a few hours to a day, it would start working again. But I never know when it will simply shut down. That puts a serious hamper on cooking on the holidays. I called the company, and was told that code indicated an internal problem with the "mother board", and that it would need to be replaced. The refrigerator (while it is nice and roomy) has not made ice after the first 8 months, and the water has never come out cold. It's barely room temperature. The handles on the drawers in the freezer have fallen off, and the draws frequently get stuck. My freezer is spotless...nothing to gum up the glides. Several of the small plastic shelf brackets have snapped off. The final straw? This morning, the microwave, one of only two only appliances that I have not yet had a problem with, just quit all together. I checked the breaker, and the outlet. No problems there. Just dead. I have had two separate electricians here to make sure the wiring was not faulty, given all of the issues, and the wiring is fine. The microwave stove and oven are all on dedicated circuits. Now we get to the so called "Electrolux "Support". I called to report the problems. I won't include the microwave, as it is outside the "warranty" period, but it's still only a year and a half old. The dishwasher is insanely quiet and still working well, so no complaints about that one item. I called to report the problems with the refrigerator, cook top and oven when they were maybe 9 or 10 months old. At that point the cook top was not working at all. They said they would send one person each for each appliance. Now, being a working mom, I can't take three days off to wait for three separate servicemen. That was ridiculous. So, after several more phone calls, they found someone nearby, and claimed he would be out with two weeks. Two weeks? Without a stove? That is really a long time to wait with 2 kids under the age of 6. But I didn't really have any say in the matter, and no amount of begging and pleading on my part helped. Of course, no one called or showed up. About 6 calls and 3 months later, an authorized serviceman from All American Appliance, out of Monroe, CT arrived. He looked at each appliance and determined that cook top and the oven needed new computers, and he was going to order some parts for the fridge. He claimed it could take two weeks for the parts to arrive. I waited three, figuring he must be busy. I called his office about 4 times over the next week. Only after I called Electrolux did he finally return my call. He was very apologetic and basically said my order had "slipped through the cracks", and he had forgotten to place it all together. I was frustrated, but mistakes happen, and I tend to be pretty easy going and patient. So I agreed to wait for the parts and his call. He claimed he was going to order my parts and he would be back to our house in two or three weeks. Again, a month later, I called the office several times. The woman at the office remembered me, and told me she was doing to give Dave a call, as he was not in the office. I waited a few days and called her back. She claimed she had no record of his visit, and he didn't remember ever coming here. Turns out the service man "Dave" that had come out initially is the owner of the company. No order, no parts, she has suddenly never heard of me. I called Electrolux, absolutely fuming at this point. They said they were having difficulty finding someone authorized in my area. I filed a report with Electrolux about the "authorized" repair company that had been giving me the run around. Basically, they don't want to bothered repairing the appliances, and I told Electrolux as much. I refused to waste any more time with this guy Dave from All American. I asked that Electrolux find a reputable repair man and get this taken care of. I told the rep that I have had to buy a rice cooker, and one of those plug-in cook tops to make meals when I have a $2000 cook-top sitting there, useless! It's been over a year now that I have been trying to get these issues resolved. Then, the Electrolux rep told me that, since it has been more than a year, the warranty has expired. WHAT???? I just about lost it right there, but I calmly and firmly explained that No, I initiated a service claim well within the warranty period, and due to the incompetence of both the repair company and Electrolux, I have been waiting for repairs for more than a year. They retracted that statement pretty quickly, and said they would get a different company to come out. Electrolux called a few days later with another company. A new rep left the name and number of All American Appliance!!! I'm not sure what I am going to do now. I most definitely am NOT calling All American Appliance again, so I can waste another 9 months??? The idea of having to get an attorney to get new appliances just makes me feel...tired. I could send this post to the CEO, but really, is he going to care? I'm just one person. I'm a nurse, so customer satisfaction is my number one priority, even though it's not likely I will ever see the same patient again. They should take note. I would love any suggestions/ideas on what I should do next. If 30+ hours of phone calls (and I'm not kidding) haven't resolved it, should I resign myself to getting an attorney? I don't have another ten grand to shell out to replace all of my appliances...and now that I have taken the time to write this post, I have a good mind to copy and post it everywhere I can think of!

Here are some resources on sound-reducing construction. The one immediately below, and the one that is hyper-linked, look pretty good. The other one (''Suppressproducts'') might just be an advertisement for their products, I am not sure. Basically sound is vibration that is transmitted from the source to your ear by rigid materials (sound travels well through hard materials like wood) and air. To reduce sound, you want to reduce the transmission of vibration. Air gap is better than a rigid connection. A heavy, soft material (e.g. rubber) is better than an air gap. Techniques are: - Double layers of drywall with dampening material like the referenced ''green glue'' between them (not simply screwing one sheet of drywall to the other) - Staggered studs w/ separate floor plates (essentially making two walls, no physical connection from one side to the other) - Sheet of sound dampening material between the staggered studs (reducing sound transmission through the airspace) - Sealing openings in the walls (electrical boxes, holes for plumbing, gaskets around and under door frame) - Special doors, or (less good) a conventional solid door, or (maybe an in-between alternative) a conventional door w/ a sound dampening layer on one side. - Dampening material between subfloor and joists, and between ceiling drywall and joists - Sound-proofing paint (I've not heard of this stuff before, I am skeptical it does much) Since the bathroom is a small space, you can use these techniques without too much additional expense, and just the loss of about 6'' if using staggered studs and double drywall layers. http://www.soundproofingcompany.com/index.php?/library/articles/elements_of_room_construction http://www.supressproducts.com/soundproofing-articles/Soundproof-Sheetrock.html Here is a link that might be useful: Link

I've had my white Caesarstone for about a year and I have had no issues. In fact, I love it. It's on our perimeter counters as well as our kitchen table surface. I just use soap and water and an occasional spray of watered down rubbing alcohol. The occasional stains such as blue pen (don't ask!) and smushed berries, come right out with soft scrub w/bleach. My DH and DS are the dishwashers and they occasionally bonk a plate on the counter as they are loading the dishwasher and though it makes me cringe, we have had no chips or damage as a result. I don't put pots from the stove or oven directly on it so I haven't tested its heat resistance. BTW, I also ran into that 3rings website with the horrible reviews of CS as I was doing my research. I thought it was a bit odd that ALL the reviews were so horrible and it made me a bit suspicious. Other websites--like this one-- seemed more trustworthy in that many people post with their varying experiences and it's easier to sort what might be spam or fake reviews.

North Iowa here.. What no one on this thread understands is there are no "green spaces" here. We have Habitat ReStore. We have Menard's or maybe Lowe's or Home Depot. Iowa people help each other all the time. Craig's list has junk. I did a kitchen gut 10+ years ago with Menard's hickory cabinets and laminate counters. No back splash. Existing Vinyl floor. Used my just fine white appliances. My house was built in 1880 so no open concept here. My kitchen is a room. A small room by comparison to almost all kitchens on here. I had a handyman who worked cheap. I had known him for at least 30 years so when I left for work I knew he'd deal with whatever came along. He was gone when I got home and I did clean up. I also did the gutting of the old kitchen; dead mice in the light fixture but he warned me about the potential so I was prepared. Maybe I was very, very lucky but I got a great kitchen for $10,000. I don't know what inflation would do to that price today. Compared to what I started with I now have a palace. You are a long way from final plans and I think you will do just fine. It takes a lot of price comparison shopping to get there. And shopping on eBay and Menard's sales. Don't over look the consignment shops. If you do Menard's cabinets wait until they have the 11% off. If you visit the cabinet people there regularly and tweak your layout, you will find people you really like and who like you and they will tell you when the sales are coming up. You can also make your own laminate counters for cheap. I didn't do that 4 inch backsplash thing and even though I didn't do any other kind of backsplash, I'm glad I didn't add it. Right now I have wallpaper but I'm thinking I might tile some paneling that's cut to fit so that if I get tired of it I can pull it off and put something else there.